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Peace

The work of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns on peace is focused on identifying and eliminating the root causes of violence and conflict with a focus on specific regions, expressions of violence and areas of conflict affecting Maryknollers, and U.S. aggression and national security policy (e.g. war on terrorism and war in Iraq and Afghanistan).The nexus of violence and poverty is clear. Unless we dedicate ourselves to building true human security for all, nations – especially poor ones – will continue to fall victim to an unending cycle of economic, political and social violence.

With ethnic cleansing and extreme violence in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East – and the threat of nuclear war looming on the Korean peninsula – we are looking more closely at the role of the Catholic Church in the work of active nonviolence.

The Trump administration has taken actions in recent months that have raised tensions over nuclear weapons with both Iran and North Korea. In both cases, diplomacy can be used to build trust and avoid military confrontation.

Free screening of the new documentary by Helen Young about the lives of five peace activists, including two Catholic sisters and Father Bill Bichsel or “Bix” as he is known by his friends, as they wage their own war on nuclear weapons.

Ask your Members of Congress to urge the State Department to firmly appeal to the Israeli government to stop demolishing Palestinian property. Ask Congress to insist that U.S. military aid be conditioned on Israel’s compliance with U.S. law and policy, including respect for human rights.

Apply for a free online course on civil resistance.

Rutgers and the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) are now accepting applications for the moderated online course, "People Power: The Study of Strategic Nonviolent Resistance." The course comes with optional graduate credits offered by the Graduate School of Rutgers University.

International news agencies have reported in recent weeks that thousands of people in Myanmar who identify as religious and ethnic minorities and face severe restrictions inside the mainly Buddhist country have fled to the border with Bangladesh to escape fighting between the military and armed members of minority groups, only to be turned back by the Bangladeshi border guards. Faith groups in the U.S. were scheduled to deliver the following letter to Congress in early September in an attempt to halt a provision in a current defense authorization bill that would increase U.S. military cooperation with the government of Myanmar.

Palestinian children of Bedouin villages in the Negev desert use cameras to document repeated land confiscation and destruction of their villages by the government of Israel.The following article was published in the September-October 2017 issue of NewsNotes.